Core distribution seem totally random. I've tended to find more of them in chests in shrines than out in the wild. That's probably deliberate so that you only get the nice armour from Akkal laboratory once you've done a fair few shrines.

Don't agree with all of it but since I've hit the 50 hour mark, a lot of my energy for the game has waned and it's become quite formulaic, so I can see what he's saying. It's still occasionally amazing and I love Hyrule itself but I am now starting to wonder a) would reviews have all still been 10/10s if people had gotten further and b) if Nintendo will do another version of Zelda in this mould, but tighter and even more varied.

At 115 shrines and have 4 shrine quests unfound. I have spent the last 3 evenings focusing solely on getting these shrines but I'm absolutely stumped. Only thing I've found is a slate that I read which gave me a new shrine quest and then it immediately marked as complete as I'd got the shrine earlier but hadn't triggered the quest. Blurghhhhhhhh

Exactly my thoughts. I still have fun every time I play but it is just more of the same good stuff rather than mind blowing new things. Reviewers only got two weeks with the game. Those who did finish it in that time must have had a massively condensed experience compared to me, I'll likely be at 150 hours before I'm done. I expect it would have gotten less perfect scores if reviewers had longer.

Still, it's a great game and a huge step in a really interesting direction for the series (and all open world games). I would really be on board with a more focussed but shorter experience. A quicker follow up in the vein of majora's mask makes complete sense to me.

It's a good job I really enjoy just exploring and uncovering new areas as i think that it is the core principle of the game. They did a great job in creating unique and interesting environments I think.

I think a sequel would be helped by having more frequent story elements. BOTW doesn't progress outside of the four beasts and the 12 memories really, which is pretty sparse across 150 hours. I think somehow trying to have a story that can have many more building blocks, and still be nonlinear, thus allowing you to uncover it at more frequent intervals, would help a lot.

I think I've gone as far as I can without a guide, I wanted to go the whole way but I think I might have to allow myself his to prevent more wasted evenings and so I can finally go back to my non-Zelda life.

Yeah I agree. Perhaps more varied puzzles involving the runes too (rebuild a dam gate using magnesis, halt a water wheel with cryonis, go into a cave system using bombs etc). I really miss conventional Zelda fishing too!

I know I go on about Xenoblade Chronicles a lot, but that game changed open world games for me. And it's a relevant talking point here as 100 of their staff helped on this; I think this game is essentially those two games mashed together, with added physics.

BOTW takes a lot of XC's strengths and nicks them; using twinkling items to guide your way around the land, fast travel, infrequent but dense towns, unique enemies per area of map, sense of isolation amongst the beautiful nature, quest logs, collectopedia and heart-to-heart affinity side missions (basically memories in this game without XC's fetch quests). Despite running everywhere, crossing huge terrains also never got boring.

Thematically there are also crossovers; use a glowing blue sword to take on some ancient mech who have turned against humanity; you'll need your finest gear to do so and approach combat differently.

The main difference to BOTW was that the map unlocked gradually and definitely halted your progress at times, as the epic linear story had marks you needed to hit. So you felt confined to one big area at a time.

XC X did away with that and followed more of BOTW's open Hyrule structure. Start in a city hub, learn the basics, go explore. Like XC before it, it got away with this vastness by using the memorable scenery to pique your interest and stop you feeling directionless. But after 40 hours, once you'd unlocked the map and done the 10 story missions, repetition set in. The systems in that game are more explore, collect, fight so once I'd found all the landmarks, I was done. What drives most XC X players on was collecting the most amazing gear to take on the crazy overpowered enemies you see lumbering around; this never spurred me on personally but I think it would have done in Zelda, given the games more varied ways of earning rupees and gear.

But yeah... I think a future Zelda could stick largely to this formula but inject a bit more story, some meatier side quests that fill in pivotal characters' back story, perhaps introduce a rune upon completion that opens super rare shrines, cut the shrines down to 50 longer challenges and have higher level enemies in there for the end game. Then it's close to perfect.

Take a peek at what's coming this summer in the first DLC Pack for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

This sounds very promising to me. A lot of people complain when Nintendo do DLC because they're held to some ridiculous standard, but I think this is a generous helping. Master sword buff sounds great.

Happy with that, but can't imagine wanting to start the game again in hard mode considering how many hours i've already put in. I was also thinking about how there is a bit of a lack of aerial stuff when the glide mechanic is so used (one divine beast excluded) and so having more things in the air I fully approve of.